Keeping Bowral and District Hospital PUBLIC!

Friday 7th July 2017

The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) has today welcomed reports the Berejiklian Government has capitulated on the privatisation of Bowral and District Hospital.

General Secretary of the NSWNMA, Brett Holmes, said the decision was a testament to ten long months of campaigning together with members of the community group, Public Health First, local health workers and their supporters.

“Another day, another victory for the people. This is a sensible outcome for Bowral Hospital and will ensure the redeveloped facility remains in public hands, as it should be,” Mr Holmes said.

“We congratulate NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard for listening to our concerns and not just pressing ahead with the public-private partnership model that was left behind by his predecessor.

“Our members had been extremely concerned, not only about their own job security under a public-private partnership arrangement, but also over the lack of guaranteed safe patient care and accountability of taxpayers’ money.

“There is abundant evidence indicating public-private partnerships in health don’t work. They are an expensive ill-fitting exercise for the health sector that often end up costing the government, and therefore taxpayers, much more than anticipated.

“Local nurses, midwives, doctors and other health workers from Bowral and the surrounding area raised these issues since the proposal was first announced last September and it’s very pleasing to see their hard work and dedication to oppose this plan has been rewarded with the best result.

“Now the Berejiklian Government has walked away from plans to privatise Bowral Hospital, it must bring forward the remaining funds required to deliver a better public health service for the people of Bowral.”

Mr Holmes also called on the Health Minister to immediately extend the same courtesy to the communities of Shellharbour and Maitland and scrap their hospital privatisation plans.

“Yesterday, Wyong Hospital redevelopment was secured in public hands and today we learned Bowral will be kept public – it is vital the Health Minister does the right thing and delivers a publicly built and operated new hospital in Maitland and also Shellharbour,” said Mr Holmes.

The NSWNMA has reiterated it will continue to campaign all political parties until all proposed public hospital privatisations in NSW are scrapped.